Harry Bernstein (1856 - 1920) was
in his day (1880 to the first decade of the 20th
century) one of the most effective ward bosses,
delivering the immigrant vote to the Republicans. He
also served one term (1903-05) representing Ward 4 on
City Council.

He was an immigrant himself, having been
brought to Cleveland in 1868 from Russia-Poland by his
parents. Educated in the public schools, he was 25 years
old - and wise in the ways of the city - when the
great wave of Jewish immigration began in 1881. "Czar Bernstein", as he was
often called, was also an entrepreneur. He owned Yiddish theaters, a saloon, a
hotel, and more.

A dramatically written
story of his life, written at a time when he had
suffered terrible financial losses, was in the Magazine section of the
Sunday April 21, 1907 Cleveland
Plain Dealer. The title: The Rise and Fall of Czar
Bernstein.
[read the story on our
pages]

Bernstein's
political power waned early in the 20th century as
Italian immigrants moved into his
ward
and Jewish voters moved steadily east and out. His
funeral in 1920 was attended by 900 persons and he was
praised for his many good works.

Bernstein's Elbow looking
south photo taken
1930
Photo from
Cleveland Memory at Cleveland State University.
The Cleveland Press Collection

The above photo of Bernstein's Elbow is
evidence of the influence of Republican ward leader
"Czar" Harry Bernstein.
During the 1890s a Cleveland street, not far from the
industrialized river valley, was given two extra bends to avoid disturbing a
business he owned - probably the saloon in the
upper left of the photo.
At the right, a segment of a 1900 map shows Bernstein's
Elbow near the center. It was on what is now East 14th
Street (until 1906 north-south streets had names, not
numbers), south of Woodland Avenue and north of Orange
Avenue.

Bernstein's Elbow is long
gone, except in old maps, some books and this page.